1. Field
The invention is in the field of ash trays and devices for extinguishing cigarettes.
2. State of the Art
Ash trays in use today provide a receptical for ashes from cigarettes as they burn and for cigarette butts after smoking of the cigarette has been completed. Ash trays usually also provide a rest for cigarettes to hold the cigarette as it burns, when not being smoked, but when the smoker desires to keep it lit and available for smoking. If a cigarette is extinguished after having been partially smoked, the smoke that remains in the cigarette and cools taints the unburned tobacco and any filter material present so that the cigarette tastes badly if relit and the remaining part smoked.
With the current cost of cigaretts it would be desirable to be able to avoid wasted burning of the cigarette and with the current concern for reducing the smoke in the air that non-smokers breath, it would be desireable to reduce the amount of smoke released by a cigarette while not being smoked by a smoker, for example, the smoke released by a cigarette while resting in an ash tray between drags by a smoker.